What advice would you give to someone just starting out on personal branding?

A cohesive brand is made up of many smaller decisions, from color palette to language used on social media. Where would you begin?

A product is never just a product, right? Choosing certain products or services is often done with the general experience we think they will provide in mind. The goal of branding overall is to stand out from the crowd, to have a name that will be remembered, preferred, and even admired. 

Share your must-haves in the comments below.

For a  professional artist or photographer, just stick with your own name in the logo. It isn't unique or original to do that,  but for those two groups, who they are, and what they do, are inseperable. 

Don't claim to be an expert if you're not. 

Wally Ollins writes in his book the brand handbook;

“A brand is simply an organisation, or a product, or service with a personality.”

Any great personality is based upon having a solid understanding of yourself. It’s no different for a brand.

Much like us, a brands personality is formed by defining why it exists, what tribe it belongs to and what it believes in; purpose, customer and values. 

We carry out brand strategy to discover and define these questions first, as they will act as our cornerstones for design decisions made going forwards.

But it’s not enough to just know who we are, as environment also sculpts personality. We need to know our customers problems and what other brands are trying to solve them. 

Where we sit amongst the competition and where we want to be. Thorough market research ensures that the personality we are defining is unique, will achieve the goals of the business and most importantly, will make our customers lives easier.


If you’re serious about building a brand, you should be able to answer the questions I’ve talked about. If you can’t, and you’re investing in your brand currently, take a step back and think about the foundations that you are trying to build on. You might save yourself a lot of time in the long run.

Dan, 
Bloody Lovely Branding Co.

IG: @bloodylovelybrandingco

Branding explained:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJl3qX_DBKq/?igshid=vlf9owcbhjit

Audio clip:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CJ4gxIkJNJy/?igshid=14a44a1o42i02